The Park
by Spare Bones Account
Summary: ATU fic. Lucy and Jude have a daughter; they take her to Washington Square Park.  Remember the rally right after Dear Prudence? There's a playground behind that arch.     T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is kinda a self-insert, I guess. I swear, this is the only time I'd insert myself into a fic. You see, I was born a few blocks away from Washington Square Park, in the nineties. Thirty years after this fic, but parks don't change much. Just trying to establish that I'm probably inserting myself into the character of Rita, Jude and Lucy's child, since I lived there when I was a small child myself. I know the area pretty well. Any mistakes are my poor memory's fault, feel free to correct me. I own nothing; don't sue me. Enjoy! -Trish

"Luce, we need t'find somewhere else t'live. Somewhere safer, for Rita."

"Jude, my _job_ is here. We're barely affording this. There's nowhere better to go."

"Me mum...or maybe your parents could-"

"Never. I won't take charity from them."

"Luce, I just want to keep my – our – daughter safe."

"And I just want to keep Rita with me. We have support here, Max and Prudence and Jojo and Sadie. Between the six of us, I think we can manage to raise a child."

_and so rita's life went, a baby in greenwich village_

Looking back now, I realize just how much it must have taken, to raise me there. I'm only ten, nothing was really 'so long ago'. We're moving away now. Dad's been advocating for us to move from the beginning, and finally they've saved up 'enough money'. Mom didn't want to go before; she loves it here. She's always talking about how dynamic this place is, and in a way she's right. I can't imagine living anywhere else but here, in our tiny little place. Uncle Max, and Sadie and Jojo, and Prudence all live in one little place with us. I sleep in the living room, the main room in the house. My bed's in my parents' room, but when my parents go to sleep, they pick me up and put me on the couch in the main room.

We're moving to England, a whole ocean away. Dad says it's safer there, that anywhere would be safer than this place. Mom finally agreed; I think she wants more space. She says that there, she could get a place where I'd have my own bedroom. I don't want or need my own bedroom, but I don't really have a say in all this.

I'm going to really miss this place. It's different from most other places, from what I gather. I've listened to Mom's and Uncle Max's stories, and Dad's, and Prudence's. Jojo doesn't talk about where he's from, though. I don't see Sadie much, so I don't know quite as much about her. She's out most nights, singing.

We're leaving tomorrow, going on a ship. Planes are faster, but more expensive. Dad used to work on a ship, so he feels more comfortable taking us on one.

For today, my parents are taking me to Washington Square Park one last time.


	2. Chapter 2

There's a pretty big park right here in the Village. It's always an interesting, if not age-appropriate. Mom's always telling me about the infamous rally Paco held at the park. I've only met Paco once or twice, but Mom's always talking about him; it was a job working under him that started off all her other jobs since then. And those jobs are what made most of the money we're using to move.

Dad doesn't talk about the old rallies very much anymore, but he likes taking me to the park a lot. It's a gorgeous place in my opinion. It might not be as big as Central Park to the north, but it's comparatively large, and it has multiple trees in one place, which is more than I can say for most places around here. When I was a bit younger, I used to play in the playground there a lot. Mom tried to keep us staying there as much as she could; I guess she was worried about destroying my innocence in the big plaza behind the arch. There's always something going on there, be it a rally for some cause, or just some idle entertainment. It's not appropriate for a kid my age, but what around here is? I live in the main room of a tiny flat; Max can't hide the fact that there's a different girl sneaking in each night.

That's probably why Mom agreed to the move. She came from one of those neat, 'normal' places in the country. She's got some strange idealization of a child's life, and she wants to let me have one of those, like she had.

Dad isn't so worried about giving me the ideal family. But, however ok it is for adults to live in the Village – Uncle Max and Dad moved here of their own choice – it's not exactly the best place to raise a child.

A/N: This isn't exactly my best work. It's a story written for me, not for an audience. Seriously though, reviews are appreciated. Full disclosure, I'm trying to win some bragging rights with my friends; I have two friends who write for some anime fandom on here. I write in the Bones fandom a bit, and some other ones on a different account, and I want to see if I can get more reviews.


End file.
